She Said WHAT?
by headupintheclouds
Summary: It's the day of a Hogsmeade trip, and James Potter intends to ask Lily Evans to attend with him as always. She turns him down, which leads James to explain just why it bothers him that she ALWAYS refuses. He returns to his friends with surprising news.


**She Said WHAT?**

By Headupintheclouds

Sirius Black tossed his dark hair to one side with his hand, producing that "effortless" look that went over so well with the ladies. The move, however, seemed to be losing efficacy, and so he turned away from the mirror and faced Remus Lupin.

It was around nine in the morning on a bright Saturday, which was generally considered a ridiculously early hour for the students who inhabited Hogwarts. The thing that had managed to drag them out of their beds at this hour was the prospect of a Hogsmeade visit, which, from the looks of it, would be a glorious time. The sun outside was streaming through the castle windows, and it was nearly springtime, which meant two things: one, flowers would be sprouting all along the path that led them to the village, and two, that people were pairing up. Something happened in the springtime that drew young couples together, before they would be separated for the long summer break.

"Moony, he's been gone _forever-_ when can we just leave without him?" Sirius questioned, flopping himself down across his bed, glaring up at the ceiling.

"He's been gone-" Remus glanced down at his wrist watch- "three minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Only seventeen seconds have passed since you _last _asked that question."

"But isn't he generally back here within half a minute?" Sirius whined agitatedly- he could only imagine the leggy, blonde Danielle Slavengord, his date for the day, meandering around the courtyard without him. She could find a replacement for him within minutes, he knew.

"The average is twenty-seven-point-three seconds," chimed in Peter.

Meanwhile, down in the common room…

Lily Evans was curled up in her very favorite spot of the Gryffindor Common Room- an old, maroon chair in the back corner of the room. There were no chairs near it, so she was rarely disturbed there. Her occupation this morning was one of the novels her mother had sent along written by her favorite muggle author- and nearly impossible for her to get ahold of otherwise.

Her plans for the day were mainly to hole up in the mercifully emptying Common Room, catch up on some pleasure reading, and perhaps tackle a small amount of homework later in the day. She planned to meet up with a few of her friends at the Three Broomsticks for lunch.

The only predictable setback for the day would be Potter asking her out. He asked her out nearly every day of late, but he made a special effort on Hogsmeade days. And he _never _asked ahead of time, as any normal lad would have done. He always asked the morning of, generally a few minutes before they would be departing, if she ever agreed to go. Which she would not.

As she turned the page of her novel, her intrigue piquing in the story, she heard Potter descending the stairs from the Boys' Dormitory. How she knew it was Potter without ever looking up, she couldn't say. But she could always discern the pattern of his footfall from anyone else's.

She politely closed the book, leaving her finger as a marker holding her place. She crossed one leg over the other and eyed him expectantly.

Potter approached nervously, unable to look her in the eye. He was clearly concealing something behind his back.

"Lily," James started, his voice shaky.

"Potter, quite simply, no thank you."

"But you never even let me finish!"

It was true- part of the Hogsmeade tradition was that those were the only days he could count on finishing his invitation before she shot him down.

"James, I'm awfully sick of wasting your time," Lily said, opening her book again.

James let a bouquet of embarrassingly ugly flowers fall from behind his back. Last Hogsmeade trip, he'd come armed with an enchanted teddy bear, which floated around singing embarrassing songs until she trapped it in the Prefects' bathroom. The time before that, it had been a box of fine, handmade chocolates from Ambrosius Flume's new collection. She figured he had used some illegal means to acquire them, and had returned them immediately. James proceeded to sink to the floor, looking defeated.

Lily lowered her book again, as this was a break from a very formulated routine they shared- after being rejected, James would retreat to his dormitory, and casually reemerge looking completely unaffected a few minutes later with his "Marauders."

"James-" Lily started, but the word died on her lips. She had no idea whatsoever where she was headed. How did someone possibly console James Potter, star catcher of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, effortless passer of all his classes, Marauder?

"I'm fine," he grumbled into his knees. Even in this position, all James looked disarmingly collapsed- as though he was putting no effort into maintaining his position.

"Er- are you quite sure?" Lily asked. She felt quite positive that James had come down with some sort of illness- surely she wasn't the cause of such discomfort. She started mapping out a path to the Infirmary in her head, planning how to avoid tricky stairs and still get James there quickly.

Looking up exasperatedly from his knees, James glanced around the nearly-empty Common Room. Satisfied that no one was within earshot, James spoke, "I just want to know why." He said it conspiratorially, like he wanted no one else to hear at all.

Lily Evans, generally quite clever and quick, was dumbfounded. "Why what?"

"Why, after I go to all the trouble of asking you out, time and bloody time, you _still _say no every time. Without so much as a thought."

"But-" Lily started, scrambling to gather her words, "it- it _bothers_ you?"

"Well, yeah!" he stated, as though she were completely daft.

"Then why- why on _Earth_- do you keep doing it?" she asked.

"I want you to say yes!" exclaimed James. Lily found this a dreadfully obvious answer, and gave it very little thought.

"Well, of course you do, but-" Lily started.

"You clearly don't understand, at all. I put my bloody neck on the line, day after day, time after time, and you _always_ say no. Like I'm never good enough. We win at Quidditch, you still say no. I actually pay _attention_ in class, you still say no. I bring you presents, you say no. I stop even looking at other women, you still say no. What the hell else can I do for you?"

"But- but- that was all for _me_?" Lily asked, dumbfounded.

James nodded, looking more than a bit fed up with this discussion.

Lily glanced around the room, helplessly trying to collect her racing thoughts. Her brows knit in confusion. Her mouth collected to one side of her face, as it did when she was focusing quite hard on an essay. Had he not been so very upset, James would have noted how endearing it was, which would probably earn him either an eye roll or a gentle slap.

"Lily, you know-" James began, sounding resigned.

"Yes." Lily said, grinning a bit shyly.

"From now on, I'll just- wait, WHAT?" asked James, his eyes widening as he met her gaze. "Did you just say-"

"Yes, James. I will go to Hogsmeade with you. Today."

James, his eyes still wide with shock, rose and turned away from her to clamber up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He didn't feel that a response was necessary. Even if it were, he couldn't have managed to come up with one.

"Now that that's _finally _done," Sirius began, giving his friend an annoyed glance.

"Yeah, you can go," James assured, dazed.

"You're not coming, then?" questioned Remus concernedly.

"Not with you," James said, straightening his tie in the mirror, before turning to his friends and running a gleeful hand through his messy hair. The idea of a date with Lily Evans was beginning to set in.

"So you're going on your own?" Peter asked in a high-pitched voice.

"Nope. Lily said yes." James said, flashing a brilliant grin at his mates.

Remus, Peter, and Sirius exchanged bewildered glances. They looked back at James, who was now rifling through his trunk for money, hardly believing what he said.

Sirius was the first to regain his wits, and come up with a response.

"She said WHAT?"

**A/N: **Hello, my lovelies. I apologize to all for my absence. Of late, I've fallen back in love with Lily and James. Their stories, that is.  Anyway, please leave reviews, of all shapes and sizes. Flames are welcome. Hope you all are well.


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